and really did not belong in an official bulletin. These items she returned
to the staff members with reasons for their “rejection.”
The sample high school weekly bulletin reproduced in appendix B is
longer than most. During the first weeks of any school year, many remind-
ers need to be included. As the weeks go by, bulletins should get shorter. A
reasonable goal is never to exceed the front and back of an 8½ × 14 flyer.
Here and elsewhere, this book mentions the Teacher Handbook. If a
school does not have such a handbook, then a first priority should be to
create one. In schools lacking such a document, lengthy memos go out to
teachers every year about subjects ranging from school rules to staff at-
tendance procedures to the referral process to school district regulations
to proctoring procedures. Little or nothing changes from year to year,
so trees are being unnecessarily destroyed. In addition, these memos are
stuffed in teacher mailboxes, and there is no check as to whether or not
the teacher receives them, let alone reads them.
For newly assigned Principal Thelen, what began as a booklet to con-
solidate all these memos evolved into a handbook that incorporated good
teaching practices, words of wisdom from the Parent Association, and
even summaries of current educational research on learning modalities
and alternative assessments. For the “first edition” all the various assistant
principals, other key personnel, and the union representative were asked
what they felt belonged in a handbook for teachers. As different chapters
were written, Principal Thelen sent drafts to appropriate school personnel
to obtain their ideas for revision and refinement. These were included in
the final document.
At the first faculty conference the next September, he gave each teacher a
three-ring binder containing this handbook. All who contributed to the con-
tent were acknowledged. Teachers signed a verification form that they had
received and understood that they were required to be aware of the content
of this handbook. Principal Thelen devoted part of the faculty conference to
familiarizing the staff with its content and highlighting what rules, regula-
tions, and procedures they were expected to know and implement.
The binder could also be used to hold attendance and grading records
as well as lesson plans, so that the handbook contents could be refer-
enced at any time. As soon as it was distributed, he received more ideas
for revisions and other items for inclusion. Since the handbook was in a
Monitor the Communication 133